No Sale - Alas!

LETTERS TO THE EDITOR

August 31, 1989

I WAS interested in your Style section story headlined ''Service is back in fashion.'' Let us hope so! Recently, my class on salesmanship took a field trip to a shopping mall and entertainment center. We were at first appalled, then infuriated, at the lack of attention to selling. For the most part we were ignored, and in some cases given a look to say ''don't bother me.''

One mother would have bought a pair of running shoes for her son had the salesman (?) ever left his perch by the front window, his feet propped at shoulder level. In another shop, a student and her husband each in turn picked up the same outfit and remarked about how it would look on a grandson. The clerk never asked for the sale and they left empty-handed.

There were exceptions and where there were, they were excellent: the eelskin salesman who explained the processing and care, and the woman with the nail-finishing cart. Most outstanding were the model/sales people in a separates shop, who continuously entertained and sold.